DSLR VideoVideo

When you’re working on a music video and need to record a commercial or promo that’s tightly tied to a music track, it’s important to think ahead for post-production. Recording with a click track gives you the ability to sync multiple cameras and multiple takes across several locations. Using consistent, sequential audio cues, known as a click track, will help you sync your visuals in post.

On this week’s show, Robbie and Rich walk you through the benefits of using a click track when recording a musical performance.

This week we cover

• Using a click track: Learn how to use a click track in the field to synchronize multiple cameras.• Creating a click track: Learn how you can create a click track before you shoot your footage.• Playing a click track in the field: We’ll go over your options for playback with a click track while on set.• Recording with a click track in the field: We’ll take you in the field to record a music video.• Syncing in post–production: Learn how to sync your audio and visuals using a click track.

Check out both the sample video above and this week’s complete episode on lynda.com. We’ll help you get the best performance and make editing a breeze.

Throughout the past month, we’ve tackled the exposure triangle—the critical way to get properly exposed photos and videos. Remember your camera and lens have three essential controls that affect how much light comes into the camera: the aperture or opening of the lens, the shutter speed (how long the shutter opens), and the ISO (the sensitivity of your sensor).

But a problem as tough as exposure can still be hard to crack. What happens when you can’t get more light into the camera and the shot is dark? How about when you want shallow depth of field and the shot is overexposed? Sometimes you have to look past the camera and make external changes to get the results you want.

This week we cover

• Controlling exposure beyond camera settings:How do you know when it’s time to stop pushing buttons on the camera and make a physical change to your shoot?

• Adding light:Is your shot underexposed? When is it time to add more light—or reposition your subject?

• Adding filtration:Too much light can also be a problem. Did you know that you can give your camera a “pair of sunglasses” when shooting in bright light?

A great way to create more interesting video perspectives is to raise your camera higher. Positioning the camera above any scene gives a unique view—and putting the camera into motion from that position can result in really dynamic shots.

In this week’s video, we look at a couple of tools for raising your camera up higher, and discuss techniques for getting the most out of elevated shots.

This week we cover

Using a monopod to extend your reach. Learn why a monopod is one of the easiest ways to get the camera up higher and extend it into a scene.

What is a jib? A jib is an extremely popular way of elevating the camera, while also putting it into motion. We’ll check out all the various features and parts of a jib system.

Operating a jib. Catch up with director of photography Jim Ball and learn about some hard-won techniques for operating a jib.

Real-world examples. We’ll evaluate several elevated shots from a recent music video shoot, breaking down what worked and what didn’t.

From its origins as a surf camera to its current incarnation as a flexible tool for any project that needs a small, durable, and capable camera, GoPro has become synonymous with go anywhere, “get the shot no matter what” productions.

Smaller than your fist and providing endless mounting options, GoPro cameras allow you to get shots you never thought were possible—especially where larger, more expensive cameras won’t work.

In this week’s episode, we’ll take a look at the iconic GoPro camera and how it can become even more flexible with different mounts, and the GoPro App, which allows you to remotely control your GoPro from mobile devices.

This week we cover

• Essential GoPro mounts: A huge advantage of a using a GoPro is how easy it is to mount it in different situations. We’ll show you some of our favorite ways to do it.

• Remote app: You can control your camera using the free GoPro App, available on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. We’ll show you how to connect it to your GoPro, and both record and view shots. We’ll also show you how to change the settings on your GoPro camera directly from the app.

• Real-world examples: We’ll evaluate several shots from a recent shoot, including some using a GoPro on a quadcopter. We’ll break down what we liked and what we didn’t.

With its versatile mounts and a powerful remote app, GoPro cameras make a great addition to any filmmaker’s kit. Be sure to check out both the sample video above and this week’s complete episode on lynda.com.

Blackmagic Design is well known for its reasonably priced video post-production products, including interfaces and adapters. Recently they’ve also started making cameras, including the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Production Camera 4k, and Pocket Cinema Camera—all with high-end features and great price points.

About the same size as a traditional point-and-shoot stills camera, the BMPCC is capable of shooting video using Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) and now, the compressed RAW format as well, all to a fast SD card. It’s a versatile camera that we’re sure will be in the hands of lots of filmmakers.

This week we cover

Getting to know the camera. We’ll explore the details of the Pocket Cinema Camera, including its ergonomics, which lenses to use, crop factor, power, and firmware.

What to look out for. No camera is perfect, and we’ll show you some of the limitations of the Pocket Cinema Camera.

Workflow. The Pocket Cinema Camera can shoot Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) in a couple different modes and soon it’ll be able to shoot RAW video. We’ll take a look at how to best handle files coming off the camera.

Real-world examples. We’ll evaluate several shots from a studio shoot, breaking down what we liked and what we didn’t.

When reading video scopes for the first time, it can be tough to figure out what you’re actually looking at. But tools like waveform monitors and vectorscopes can help with the exposure and color in your shots—and are definitely worth the time spent learning how to use them.The primary thing to keep in mind is that these tools are more accurate than your eyes in providing an objective, analytical snapshot of your video signal. This week we’ll explore

Why scopes are essential in helping you achieve better shots

How a histogram complements the information on a waveform monitor

How to use a waveform monitor to judge exposure and contrast

How to use a vectorscope to analyze hues and saturation in a shot

Learning how to use both a waveform monitor and vectorscope can really aid you in getting beautiful shots that are properly exposed, and with vibrant, consistent color. Be sure to check out both the sample video below, and this week’s complete episode on lynda.com to learn how you can use them with your own projects.

Having clear, crisp audio tracks is essential for effective corporate videos, commercials, documentaries—and particularly critical for interview footage. Audiences are often willing to forgive small technical mistakes with video, but far less so with problematic audio.

This week we’ll set up to shoot an interview, and look at ways to improve audio recording quality on location. It’s easy to focus solely on capturing great visuals while shooting an interview; but audio that’s hard to hear, distorted, or runs together between interviewer and subject can quickly ruin a production–and possibly even require a reshoot. To help you capture the best audio with interview footage, this week we’ll discuss:

Why good audio is essential to an interview

How to place microphones for the best results

Best practices for positioning the interviewee, interviewer, and crew

Interview techniques including making your subject comfortable, having questions prepared, and not talking over your subject’s answers

Often you’ll only have one chance to get interview audio right, so check out this week’s episode so you’ll be prepared before your next shoot. Remember, each week’s episode is free for seven days–tell your video and photography friends to watch for free.

This specific tutorial is from the DSLR Video Tips series presented by lynda.com authors Rich Harrington and Robbie Carman. The complete DSLR Video Tips course is presented as a weekly lynda.com series and covers the most common questions videographers encounter when shooting and editing with DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras, from choosing a frame size and frame rate to understanding moiré. This tutorial discusses which frame rate you should choose, depending on your specific requirements. Watch more at http://www.lynda.com/course-tutorials...

This specific tutorial is from the DSLR Video Tips series presented by lynda.com authors Rich Harrington and Robbie Carman. The complete DSLR Video Tips course is presented as a weekly lynda.com series and covers the most common questions videographers encounter when shooting and editing with DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras, from choosing a frame size and frame rate to understanding moiré.

Adorama Photography TV Presents DSLR | Video Skills with Rich Harrington. This episode will reveal how to choose the proper frame rate and frame size when shooting with a DSLR video camera.

Follow Rich as he explains the difference between frame sizes and frame rates and which is appropriate for different shooting scenarios. Then, watch as he takes you into a DSLR camera menu and shows you how to choose your frame size and rate.

This specific tutorial is from the DSLR Video Tips series presented by lynda.com authors Rich Harrington and Robbie Carman. The complete DSLR Video Tips course is presented as a weekly lynda.com series and covers the most common questions videographers encounter when shooting and editing with DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras, from choosing a frame size and frame rate to understanding moiré.

Adorama Photography TV Presents DSLR | Video Skills with Rich Harrington. Join Rich as he reveals great tips and techniques on how to achieve a good interview. From establishing a proper relationship with your subject, to eye-line, feedback, and how to ask follow-up questions, Rich will sit down with filmmaker Irene Magafan to talk about her newest documentary.

This digital video tutorial explains how to use an external video loupe to magnify the actual image that you're seeing on the camera LCD and to block ambient light. Watch more at http://www.lynda.com/course-tutorials/DSLR-Video-Tips-Rich-Harrington/103707-....

Three-point Lighting is a combination of a Key light, back light, and a fill light. Three-point light gives you full control over the light and shadows casting over your subject. Understanding the three-point lighting technique gives you the building blocks to advance with your photography.

Adorama Photography TV Presents DSLR | Video Skills with Rich Harrington. Join Rich as he demonstrates how to record sync sound audio when shooting with a DSLR camera. This video focusses on how to record great audio for your next project... we'll cover postproduction in a future episode.

Most DSLR cameras have a built in microphone, but to accomplish good professional audio you need more. Audio is one of the most important elements when producing video. Having an dedicated microphone to capture your audio can increase the overall quality of your video. In this episode, Rich demonstrates how to capture audio with various devices that are compatible with DSLR cameras.

This is a sneak peek from a new book I am writing – Creating DSLR Video: From Snapshots to Great ShotsWhile you can do a lot in postproduction to fix exposure, video files are a lot like working with JPEG images (as opposed to raw photos). Push an adjustment too far and you’ll get posterized image where details are clipped. Shoot too dark or too bright and you’ll have no information to work with and possibly quite a bit of noise.

The key is to always protect your highlights. Do not let the bright areas of your image (like skies or faces) get clipped. One view you likely have on your camera is a histogram. You typically can see this after taking a photo or cycling through your view options (in most cameras you can push the Info button or press your navigation dial from side to side to cycle views). If the histogram is pushed against the right edge, it means you have no information to work with. Blown out highlights go pure white and there is just no way to recover the details.Here you can see the same scene shot two different ways. In the first, I shot things a little hot. With color correction in post, I was able to recover a lot of details. But you’ll notice that a lot of the details in the shadows are clipped.

On the other hand, I also shot the scene and exposed for the “boring middle.” In this case the histograms were more balanced and I had a lot more information to work with. After color correction (a Levels and Saturation adjustment), the shot looks a lot better.

It’s better to slightly underexpose than overexpose when shooting video. Notice how the shadowy details in the rocks are preserved better in this version.ISO 100 | 1/60th sec. | f/14 | 32mm lens

The use of a loupe or viewfinder is essential for outdoor shooting. Bright light on your LCD just makes things damn near impossible to judge. If this is out of your price range, wear a hat and use it as a shield for time to time to judge exposure. I can’t emphasize enough though that a loupe should be one of your first investments if you become serious about shooting video on your DSLR camera. By removing all light pollution, you can make accurate decisions.

From the Creative COW DSLR Essentials Podcast, Robbie Carman and Richard Harrington bring you part three in a three-part series on creating time lapse. This episode covers assembling a time lapse shot.

I got to see some of this great footage and test at a sneak peek at NAB. This is a real-world comparison of DSLR and other CMOS type sensor cameras like the RED, Alexa, and Sony F3.

Episode 2, “Sensors & Sensitivity” of the three part series continues with tests covering sensitivity, resolution, compression and the relationship between them. These tests were designed and administered by Robert Primes ASC, director of the Single Chip Camera Evaluation (SCCE) and shown at 2K screenings around the world to indie filmmakers, event shooters, commercial DP’s, directors and corporate filmmakers alike. Their opinions on the footage are invaluable when it comes to understanding what all this data means in real world shooting situations.

My Zacuto Electrnic Viewfinder showed up Saturday. I'm already using it on my second shoot tonight. This thing is so awesome in that I can really see things like exposure and focus with a true viewfinder. The buttons are easy to use, the unit feels solid (but weighs practically nothing).

The best part? The fact that I've only had it a few days and Zacutto is already adding features via a free firmware update (love that).

Here's the complete user manual so you can check out the features.Download the current EVF Manual: Z-Finder EVF ManualHeres the free firmwareupdate (took 20 seconds to update)Current Version of Firmware: 1.01.00. Click Here To DownloadFirmware 1.01.00 includes the following updates:

Audio meters enabled that are able to be positioned in any of the four corners.

Battery meter can now be positioned in any of the four corners

Audio loop through enabled

Underscan now implemented

Can now save and recall Chroma, Contrast and brightness settings as presets.

Changes to color, brightness and contrast are now saved on power down and return on power up.

Red One, Sony FS100 scaling presets added

How To Upgrade Your FirmwareOnce you download the firmware the next thing you need to do is have a USB Thumb Drive formatted to FAT32. Please note this is not the default file system used for either Mac or PC and by formatting your thumb drive in this way it will erase all data that is currently on the thumb drive.1. Reformat a USB thumb drive as FAT (FAT 32 or MD-DOS). This can be done with Disk Utility on a Mac or by right-clicking in windows and choosing Format.2. Download the current firmware – Click Here To Download3. Copy the current firmware file to the FAT32 thumb drive (NOTE: File name must be evfupdate.fw)4. Insert thumb drive into EVF USB port5. Select UPDATE from the EVF menu6. Select USB DRIVE7. Select START UPDATE8. When prompted, power down and restart the unit. 9. Enjoy!Here is a detailed page about the EVF Units – http://www.zacuto.com/electronicviewfinder-faq

In this DSLR podcast Robbie Carman and Richard Harrington discuss the various frame rates available on today's DSLR Cameras such as the Canon 7D. Learn what rates to use for proper film looks, slow motion and other special effects, PAL or NTSC.

http://podcasts.creativecow.net/dslr-video-podcast/dslr-frame-rates

Subscribe for free at the COW – http://podcasts.creativecow.net/dslr-video-podcast
Subscribe for free on iTunes – http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creative-cow-dslr-video-podcast/id409873...

Oftentimes you'll find yourself using more than one camera body while shooting footage. This may be to get an extra angle or to avoid having to change lenses in the field. The closer your camera settings the match, the more seamless it will appear when you edit the different footage together. Ideally the acquired footage will match as closely as possible. This means that you to adjust both the aesthetic and technical properties.

Aesthetic Matching

Look inside the camera and check your menu settings. You'll typically find several options that will aesthetic properties of the footage. Ideally, you'll closely match these settings across multiple cameras:

Color settings – Use the same color space for each camera if it's a choice.

Picture Style – Many cameras offer different modes that stylize the footage. We recommend shooting flat and adjusting your color with Adobe Premiere Pro or After Effects after the shoot for greater flexibility.

Shutter speed – Your shutter speed should typically be 1/60 if shooting 30 fps or 1/50 if shooting 24 fps. You can alter this number for different looks, but be sure the cameras all match.

Technical Matching

You’ll also want to check several technical properties for each camera. Be sure to identically match the following properties across each camera:

For many, getting footage into their edit application is the easy part. It's getting the footage out that becomes tricky. While each editing application will all have its own unique steps for exporting a project, the process is pretty standard. Use these steps to create a master file.

Identify the final sequence. This sequence should be what is called "picture-locked" meaning that no additional changes will take place to the sequence.

Make sure that the whole sequence is rendered. Click in the timeline and choose Select All, then render the clips.

Mark and In point at the start of the footage you want, then mark an Out point at the end of the range. For most editing tools, you can use the keyboard shortcuts I and O for In and Out respectively.

Look in the file menu or application menu for an option to export the file. Choose this option.

Export the file using the same high quality settings that you were editing with, meaning the same frame size, frame rate and codec.

Save the file to a location of your choosing, keep in mind that the file you export will be large so choose a location that has enough storage space.

After exporting the file you now have your master file that you can make compressions from, pull stills from or archive.